Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?”
Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?”
They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”
So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
Matthew 21:23-27
It is Tuesday of Holy Week and Jesus continues his way to the cross. The religious leaders are getting more annoyed, more frightened. The plot to destroy Jesus is taking shape.
Jesus knows this, and he keeps going.
This morning I struggle a bit with the keeping going part…with the writing at least.
Every writer has days like this. Probably most days are like this.
At the beginning of the month, I made a new pledge to concentrate a little more on the writing. I promised myself to post every weekday. I started Short Story Friday. And I’ve got at least one script in development.
And yet, some days I struggle with what to write here.
Oh, don’t get me wrong. You can just look at the links at the bottom of these posts to realize what is garnering my attention.
I chose not to write about them, allowing the articles to speak for themselves.
But you should read them.
There’s a lot of hysteria out there.
Don’t even start pointing fingers, Karen, because it’s on all sides.
So, I try to write here to to inspire, to make things a little brighter, to relieve some of the tension we’re all feeling.
I know, dear readers, both of you, are thinking “that’s what he’s trying to do?”
It is. To an extent.
When I was a social worker, we had a client who liked to say “the more you stir it, the more it stinks.”
Read into that what you will.
I used to stir things up on the Internet. In the early days of the CompuServe squeal I had to learn how to argue. I got it wrong a lot of times.
Then I wrote for a while for political sites, and edited a political magazine.
And yeah, I got to be quite good at it. Until I got tired of the arguments. I got tired of defending the undefendable. So, I quit.
Still, one does not simply walk into Mordor or away from a career that has basically been forth some years of political campaigns and public policy work.
The struggle, as they say, is real.
So when I scroll through Facebook and see the memes that have a sliver of truth, but are just slightly skewed to prove a political point I am so tempted to write “yes, but…”
Yes, but I don’t. It won’t help anything. It won’t change any minds.
Trust me. This is the voice of experience.
That doesn’t mean I won’t speak out when I need to. That doesn’t mean I won’t share my beliefs when I need to.
But it does mean that there is wisdom in not fighting those battles on the Internet.
It’s Tuesday of Holy Week. Things are getting more tense for Jesus as he approaches the cross. Little battles along the way, in the temple, with the fig tree, with the religious leaders.
Jesus knows the big battle is just ahead, but he keeps his cool.
Go thou, and do likewise.
Photo by Robert Bye on Unsplash
MUSICAL INTERLUDE
RANDOM LINKS OF INTEREST
Tennessee Becomes Third State Requiring Student Athletes to Compete Based on Biological Sex
Gateway Pundit
Hysteria: Several Widely-Repeated Attacks on Georgia’s New Voting Law Are False or Misleading
TownHall
DeSantis: I’ll Take Executive Action To Ban “Vaccine Passports”
Hot Air
Controversial Georgia Law Requires Poll Workers To Check Voters For A Pulse
The Babylon Bee
Woman posts photos of her ‘Christian Seder,’ is met with backlash from Jewish community
TODAY
WHAT I’M READING
PODCASTS I’M LISTENING TO
BENEDICTION
Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Hebrews 13:20-21